Engineering Manager

Mission

PTI Tech is a leader in advanced engineered materials, delivering high-precision components to demanding industries including defense, aerospace, medical, and industrial. To support continued growth, successful new product launches, and operational excellence, we are hiring an Engineering Manager to lead engineering execution from project award through production readiness. The Engineering Manager drives technical execution and team performance across tooling, process validation, automation, manufacturability, cost control, and cross-functional launch readiness, while remaining hands-on in design, troubleshooting, and engineering problem-solving when needed.

Competencies – What This Person Must Be

• Strategic & Structured: Balances program strategy with critical execution details.
• Technically Fluent: Strong knowledge of injection molding, metal injection molding, CNC machining, automation, assembly, and validation requirements.
• Hands-On Capable: Willing and able to directly design, review, and troubleshoot when necessary.
• Dual Role – Leader & Individual Contributor: Comfortable managing teams while also personally executing design and engineering tasks when required.
• Financially Aware: Understands development and launch budgets, labor consumption, and cost accountability.
• Process-Driven: Thrives on building repeatable systems and ensuring compliance.
• Customer-Focused Partner: Communicates effectively with Project Management, customers, and internal stakeholders.
• Leadership-Oriented: Directs engineers and cross-functional teams with authority and clarity, while ensuring team members are supported.
• Talent Builder: Develops engineering staff through training, mentoring, and succession planning, fostering long-term technical capability.
• Decisive & Urgent: Escalates issues promptly through the proper channels to secure resources and maintain progress.
• Caring & Accountable: Balances aggressive pursuit of results with genuine concern for people, creating a culture of accountability and respect.
• Culture Builder: Promotes collaboration across departments and models PTI’s values of urgency, accountability, and respect.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead engineering activities from project award through production readiness, ensuring new programs launch on time, within scope, and aligned with customer and business requirements.
• Own technical execution for tooling, fixturing, process validation, automation, manufacturability, and launch performance across assigned programs.
• Evaluate new project opportunities for technical feasibility, manufacturability, cost assumptions, risk, and alignment with PTI’s capabilities and profitability goals.
• Partner with Business Development and Sales to support technical quoting, scope definition, manufacturability reviews, and customer opportunity assessments.
• Create, review, and maintain Bills of Material (BOMs) that align with customer quotations, project assumptions, and production cost baselines.
• Track actual labor usage and job-level costs against forecasts to improve development cost visibility, launch planning, and accountability.
• Partner with Manufacturing Engineering to ensure a seamless transition from development into stable production.
• Lead cross-functional teams across engineering, quality, manufacturing, logistics, supply chain, and sales/business development to meet project milestones and remove roadblocks.
• Facilitate regular engineering and cross-departmental project reviews to maintain alignment, surface risks, and drive timely decisions.
• Provide technical leadership in design for manufacturability, process capability analysis, validation planning, and risk assessment.
• Establish and enforce standard signoff processes to ensure required stakeholders review and approve deliverables on schedule.
• Ensure compliance with ISO9001, ITAR, and customer-specific quality requirements, including accurate documentation and audit readiness.
• Manage supplier relationships for tooling, automation, and materials to ensure technical alignment, cost control, and on-time delivery.
• Manage engineering resources, assignments, priorities, and workload balance in coordination with fellow managers and organizational needs.
• Identify and implement process improvements, cost-reduction opportunities, technology upgrades, and risk mitigations that strengthen PTI’s competitiveness and growth.
• Maintain project risk registers and contingency plans; escalate issues proactively to protect customer schedules, launch performance, and company financials.
• Develop, standardize, and enforce procedures that improve repeatability, accountability, and launch discipline across engineering programs.
• Provide technical input to business cases, capital requests, and engineering investments to ensure alignment with company profitability and strategic direction.

Customer Interfacing Responsibilities

• Communicate effectively with Project Management to ensure customer requirements, risks, and deliverables are fully understood and aligned with internal engineering activities.
• Provide timely technical input, updates, and escalation support to Project Management for use in customer communications.
• Support Project Management in customer meetings, project reviews, and technical alignment sessions.
• Serve as the customer-facing lead on technical matters when Project Management is at capacity, including leading project reviews, facilitating scope/schedule discussions, and ensuring customer satisfaction.
• Translate customer needs into actionable internal deliverables, working closely with Project Management to maintain schedule and scope control.
• Build technical credibility with customers through accurate, consistent, and professional communication.

Engineering Support Responsibilities

• Act as an individual contributor when needed by directly:
• Designing injection molds, creating engineering drawings, and developing CNC fixtures.
• Recommending molding parameters, CNC process settings, and best practices.
• Supporting debinding, sintering, and secondary processing through hands-on problem solving.
• Provide oversight for injection mold and CNC fixture design and review.
• Apply deep knowledge of molding principles: shrink, venting, cooling, gating, and press requirements.
• Mentor team members in mold design and build strategies.
• Guide engineers in drawing review, GD&T analysis, and manufacturability checks.
• Lead the design, integration, and validation of automation systems.
• Track and analyze labor hours consumed during NPD and launch, providing management feedback.
• Act as escalation point for tolerance stack-ups, DFM discussions, and problem-solving during launch.
• Support mold tryouts, validation activities, and issue resolution.
• Integrate solutions with Quality and Production teams.
• Promote lean principles in engineering development and launch activities.
• Oversee engineering training initiatives to strengthen technical capabilities across the team.

Key Metrics & KPI’s

• ≥ 95% On-Time NPD Launch Rate
• ≥ 90% First Pass Yield at SOP
• ≤ 5% Budget Variance on Development & Launch Costs
• ≥ 95% Successful PPAP/Validation at First Submission
• ≥ 90% Cycle Time Attainment at Release
• ≤ 3-Day Engineering Issue Escalation Turnaround Time
• ≥ 95% of development signoffs completed on schedule
• ≥ 80% of engineers completing annual technical training requirements
• ≥ 95% Time to Stable Production (first article to handoff) within target
• ≥ 95% Internal Readiness (handoff package completeness)

Required Experience and Qualifications (Subject to Management Discretion)

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, Materials Science, or equivalent.
• 7 years in injection molding, MIM, CNC, or related process engineering.
• Strong customer interfacing and technical program management experience.
• Direct experience as an individual contributor in injection mold design, CNC fixturing, drawing creation, and process development (molding, debinding, sintering).
• Proficiency in CAD, GD&T, DFM, FMEA, and validation protocols.
• ERP and project tracking experience.
• Demonstrated leadership and communication skills.
• Familiarity with ISO9001 and ITAR compliance requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree or PMP Certification.
• Experience in regulated industries (medical device, aerospace, defense).
• Familiarity with automation, robotics, and advanced molding technologies.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to stand and walk on the production floor for extended periods.
• Capable of lifting up to 40 lbs and performing tasks such as bending, reaching, and crouching to access equipment or inspect tooling.
• Manual dexterity to handle tools, small components, and inspection instruments.
• Visual acuity sufficient for reading prints, inspecting parts, and identifying defects.
• Tolerance for working in a manufacturing environment with noise, heat, and moving machinery.

Work Environment

Manufacturing facility with exposure to machinery, noise, and temperature variations.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) required, including safety glasses and gloves.